The year is 1979, the IAA in Frankfurt has just started and people are gathering arround the stand of the German tuning company B+B Auto Exclusiv. On the stand a car that's still one of the best known tuned cars from that crazy decade, more than 25 years ago. The car I'm talking about is the Porsche based BB 928 Targa.

 

The Buchmann 928 Targa is probably one of the very few Porsche 928s with a modified body shape, apart from the 928 convertibles and the few station-car conversions. So what makes the Targa so special then? Well basically what Buchmann have done is taking a Porsche 928, removing all of the "unwanted" behind the doors and parts of the roof. As the name suggests the Buchmann Targa is a Targa convertible with an open roof above the seats but still with the B-pillar in tact. This opening is bridged by a Targa-bar which gives the car extra stiffness to compensate for the loss of it by removing the roof. The new rear window is placed right behind the rear seats and is in fact one made for a hardtop for the Mercedes SL roadster. The rear passengers benefit from the new roof line which resulted in moor head room. Behind the rear window we find a new boot with a bootlit.

 

The interior is completely off-standard with Recaro C-seats in the front covered in black fabric with the very distinct rainbow stripes that were used on many Buchmann cars in the early years of the company. The rear seats are also Recaro but not the fully electrically operated ones sinces there's no room for that. The rainbow-theme returns in the carpets together with some BB logos. 

 

One very nice feature on the car is the stereo. It's not mounted in the dash or between the seats but mounted in the T-bar. All the components of the Clarion G80 stereo system are mounted in the direction of the driver and thus are rather impossible to operate by the passenger. Only a small graphic equalizer is mounted on the passenger side. A telephone is mounted in the cealing (or what's left it) of the T-bar with the dials in front of the windshield.

 

As with most of the high-end conversions from those days the Buchmann Porsche 928 Targa didn't come cheap. 40.000 DM was charged for the conversion and apparently only five were made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Text: copyright Bram Corts 2013

 

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